Ballast car



may 4, 1937. Y J. wx'KlNG, 2D

BALLAST CAR Filed June 7, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR JOHN w. Kmgfl ATTO ay 4, 1937. J. w. KING, 2-D

BALLAST AR Filed June 7, 1950 s Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOHN w. KING II W Q31.

ATTORNEY 'J. w. KING. 2D

BALLA S T CAR Filed June 7, 1930 s Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR" JOHN w. KINGJI Patented May 4, 1937 UNETE STATES PATENT OFFICE BALLAST CAR Application June 7, 1930, Serial No. 459,659

41 Claims.

The invention relates toa ballast car of the type designed for distributing ballast and other material on the road bed and which expression is used herein to indicate not only the space between the rails and immediately to the outside of the rails but is also used to designate the space to the outside of the rail supports including the ties.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simplified form of ballast car which can be moved slowly along the rails and by a selected opening of the closures of its differently located discharge openings, the ballast or other lading will be discharged automatically from the car and proportionately distributed to the different parts of the road bed as conditions in these parts dictate the requirements for more or less original placement or replacement of ballast as needed in the several parts.

Still another object of the invention and incidental to the general object is to. provide ballast distributing and control means which will lay the ballast in the form of a ribbon or a plurality of parallel ribbons of the desired thickness, positioned on opposite sides of one or both of the rails as needed, and which control means will insure substantial uniformity in thickness of each ribbon as it is laid, and in general the invention features means for laying the ballast initially in such way as will tend to minimize any necessity of hand leveling or subsequent redistribution of the laid material.

The invention has for other objects the providing of discharge openings with closures organized to facilitate ease of operating the same; to provide the requisite variation of opening movement of the discharge openings as the car is progressively emptied or as variations in the character of the lading necessitate a quick resetting of the distended discharge opening from time to time as the car progresses along the right of way being formed or refinished.

In addition to the requirement for ease of operation, the invention features a form of closure or door control which can be locked in any adjusted position unaffected by the material discharged past the same and the invention also features certain disposition of structural parts to provide the requisite rigidity required in cars of this construction to withstand the rough usage to which such cars are subjected in service and at the same time to minimize the number of parts and the weight of such parts which go to make up the dead load.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawings and in part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying the invention, and the invention also consists in certain new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l is a View in side elevation of part of a ballast car provided with certain parts constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention with one of the drop doors, in this instance the rear door, shown in side elevation and in closed position, and with the forward, or advanced, door shown in vertical, axial section and shown in open position and also showing part of the track construction, but it is understood that this view is simply intended to suggest the application of the invention to a railroad car and that the illustrated parts are not drawn to scale and the wheels are shown close together in order to keep the figure on the sheet;

Fig. 2 is a transverse, sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows and with parts broken away toshow detail of construction;

Fig. 3 is a plan view looking down into the left hand side of the car body as viewed in Fig. 2 with parts of the center sill construction and parts of one of the deflectors broken away for disclosure of normally hidden parts; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through a portion of the center sill and taken on the line 44 of Figs. 2 and 3, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows in each case.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to the showing of the right of way in Figs. 1 and 2, there is disclosed a conventional structure of rails a and I) mounted on cross ties c embedded in ballast d which extends between the ties c as indicated in Fig. 1, extends between the rails as indicated in Fig. 2, and extends beyond and to the outside of the ends of the ties as is also indicated in part in Fig. 2.

Referring to the car structure, it will be understood that it is provided with running gear indicated symbolically by the wheels l6 and supports a car body H. The car body includes conventional upstanding sides l2, inclined lateral sides 13 sloping from the upstanding sides I2 inwardly towards the longitudinal, medial plane of the car and in the instant case provided with inclined bottoms I31, inclining downwardly towards each other and towards the bottom openings hereinafter described to form a conventional hopper type of car.

While a hopper bottom car has been selected for illustration of the invention herein featured due to the fact that it illustrates one means for insuring continuity of material supplied to the several openings, it is appreciated that the controlled openings herein featured may be installed as parts of other forms of cars and may be installed even on a fiat or other type car where manual or other means are provided for maintaining a supply of material to whatever opening or openings may be in ballast discharging position,

In the illustrated car, there is disclosed certain other conventional parts such as a box form of fabricated center sill construction [4 selected because it provides a housing for certain parts of the closure controlling mechanism hereinafter disclosed and which center sill is provided with a conventional form of dividing partition l5. Referring'to the showing in Fig. 2, it will be understood that still following conventional structure the car is symmetrical with reference to the longitudinal, medial plane indicated by the line 3-4 of Fig. 2 and that the car including the sides I2-i3 extends for a material distance on each side to the outside of the plane of the adjacent car wheels indicated by the line e,f in Fig. 2. As the parts are duplicated on opposite sides of the medial plane of the car, the detailed description of either side will be sufficient for the opposite side except 1 that this portion of the car is provided all told with six discharge openings, three on each side of the plane 44 with the openings 18 and I9 centered above the track a therebelow and the openings 28 and M similarly centered above the track I) and bisected by the plane ef. It is also noted in the form of the invention illustrated that the openings l8 and i9 are continuous and form in efiect a single opening each half controlled by one of the door closures hereinafter described. Likewise, openings 28 and 2i are continuous, one opening longitudinally into the other.

Referring first to one of the outside discharge openings or ill, as the case may be, the lateral side l3 containing the same is cut away adjacent its'upper edge to provide this opening. The opening is outlined by a chute forming pressing 22, the lower edge of which is reinforced by an angle bar 23 and the inner portion of which pressing is provided with a downwardly turned flange 2 forming one side of the opening l8 as shown in Fig. 2. The pressing 22 also provides the support for a hinge strap 25 coacting with flange 2% to position a hinge pin 26 for a purpose hereinafter disclosed.

The openings l6 and i! are closed by closures 2'1! and 28 respectively. These closures each comprises essentially an arched plate 29 which as shown at the right of Fig. 2 closes the openingli and when in closed position rest on the pressing 22 to close the center provided by this pressing. The closures are pivotally mounted and for this purpose are provided with segmental end plates 30 pivotally mounted on pins 3i carried by the pressing 22. The edges of the curved plate 29 are ceive a hand bar 36 or any other convenient form of lever which can be inserted in the socket. A

' crow bar inserted in the socket can provide the necessary leverage to move the closures for these outside openings to various positions from the completely closed position shown at the right of Fig. 2 into the fully opened position shown at the left of Fig. 2 with an amount or degree of opening depending upon the rate of flow of the ballast or lading desired through the controlled opening or openings. The parts which define these outside openings are so designed that when in the fully opened position the discharge therefrom will be somewhat triangular in cross section, the

inner side being defined by the line g which leads to one side of the adjacent rail (1 and the other side is defined by the line it which is set by the degree of opening movement of the closure to regulate the distance laterally away from the rail to where it is desired that the ballast extend. Similarly, the closure 28 controls the discharge of lading to the right of the rail b as viewed in Fig. 2.

Referring to the openings at the bottom of the hopper formed by the inclined sides I3 and bottoms i3l, it is noted that opposing the longitudinal and vertically extending flanges 24 at each side of the car, the opposite or inner side of each of the openings l8 and i9 are defined by a bent plate 31, the upper edge 38 of which is secured to the adjacent side of the center sill construction and an intermediate portion of which is provided at each end with a flange 39 for securing the plate to the inclined bottoms l3l. A single central hinge pin 46 is disposed in alignment with the short outside hinge pins 26, extends through the center sill construction to provide inside supports for the drop doors controlling the inside dischargeopenings l8-2l. The pin 49 passes through a heavy spacing casting 5! forming an internal part of the center sill construction and providing atits upper portion a bearing for closure controlling shafts hereinafter disclosed. The transversely disposed inside discharge openings IB and 28 are controlled by a single closure 2 and the openings l9 and 2! are similarly controlled by a similar closure A3. Referring to the showing of one of these closures in Fig. 2, it will be noted that they are formed primarily of an inverted angle bar 48 having a web 24 and downturned ends 45. The discharge end of the closure as a Whole is reinforced by a relatively large massive Z-bar 46 which also acts as a scraper for leveling off the top of the discharged lading, should it become abnormally high. The opposite end of the closure is defined by an upstanding L-bar 41. Extending across eachof the inside discharge openings is a U-shaped plate 49, the bottom portion 58 of which is secured to the top of the Web 44, angle bar 48 and the upturned ends SI of which form sideplates pivotally hung on the pins 26 and 4E) and providing a channel chute for discharging the material passed through the associated opening.

Each of the closures is provided with its own mechanism for opening and closing the same and in the particular form of the invention illustrated the mechanisms are independent of each other and operated selectively from either side of the car through conveniently positioned hand wheels. Describing either one of the control mechanisms and referring to the disclosure in Fig. 2 for a description of the means for opening and closing the closure 42, it will be noted from Figs. 2 and 4 that a casting 52 is rockably and loosely supported on pin 40 and positioned between the depending legs 53 of center sill spacing casting 4|. The lower end of casting 52 is designed with a vertically extending portion 54 to engage Z-bar scraper 46 and has a horizontally extending portion 55 to engage the crotch portion of channel member 48. The opposite or upper end of casting 52 is in the form of a gear segment 56 and this casting is provided with ribs 51 extending radially from and formed integral with a long hub 58 encircling pin 40. The teeth 59 of segment 56 engage worm 60 of worm shaft 6| journalled in spaced bearings 62 forming the upper part of casting 4|. The shaft 6| is also mounted in a bearing formed in a block 63 spaced longitudinally from the casting 4| and utilized as a spacing member between the side plates of the center sill construction I4 as particularly shown in Fig. 3. The end of the shaft 6| adjacent the bearing block 63 is provided with a mitered gear 64 which meshes with beveled gear 65 carried on the square portion of a transversely disposed shaft 15 which projects beyond opposite sides of the car and is provided at opposite ends with hand wheels 66 and 61.

It is understood that the detailed description of one drop door control mechanism, thus outlined, is equally applicable to the other closure control except that where closure 42 was designed to be moved clockwise from its closed into its open position, the parts are so proportioned and organized that the other closure 43, that is the right hand closure when viewing the parts as shown in Fig. 1, moves anti-clockwise from its closed into the open position indicated on that figure. Differently expressed, the discharge edges of the drop doors move downwardly and away from each other in moving into their open position. It is obviously within the scope of the invention to operate both sides of closures 42-43 from transverse shaft 15 by connecting the worm shafts 6|, reversing the direction pitch of the worms if necessary.

In the showing in Fig. 1, it is assumed that the car is moving slowly to the right as indicated by the arrow on wheel ID in which case the clocure 43 is in its fully opened position with the forward edge of the discharge moving along the line i and the rear edge of the discharge moving along the line 7 to form the ribbon It.

It is a feature of this disclosure to avoid the dumping of any material directly on the rails and to attain this purpose, each of the chute forming channel members 49 is provided on its upper, that is inner side, with an upstanding deflector 16 of peculiar construction. When viewed in plan as indicated in Fig. 3, this deflector is somewhat triangular shaped with the wide end I 68 at the discharge end of the closure slightly curved and the apex adjacent the L-bar 47 defining the rear end of the closure chute. Viewed in transverse cross section as shown on the left side of Fig. 2, the deflector is of triangular construction in outline with the Wide portion 69 uppermost and slightly curved and with the lateral sides 10 converging downwardly to a narrow neck (I merging into the outstanding fastening flanges 12 which are riveted to the plate 49.

From this construction, it will be noted that when the drop door is slightly opened the constricted neck portion of the deflector will be presenting a relatively narrow obstacle to the passage of the lading as it is discharged on opposite sides thereof thus providing the maximum extent of opening considered transversely of the car at the time when it is providing the minimum extent of the opening considered vertically. As the drop door is lowered towards the position shown in Fig. 1, progressively more and more of the deflector will be positioned across the discharge opening and overlapping the same as shown in connection with the open door at the right side of Fig. 3 so that as the opening increases in vertical depth, it is progressively narrowed in transverse width. As the result of this construction, the initial discharge with the car body loaded to capacity will tend to distribute material up close to the adjacent rail therebeneath and as the door is progressively opened towards the end of the lading discharge, the material will be distributed a little further away from opposite sides of the rail therebelow.

In operation and assuming that the car is open the outside closure or closures 6 or I! at I those places along the line where a discharge of ballast to the outer edges of the road bed is desired and this will be especially the case where a new roadbed is being formed. In the majority of cases, the car herein featured will be used to replenish ballast between and up close to the outside of the rails a and b, in which case the bottom drop doors, either 42 and 43, alone will be used. In such cases, one operator is sufficient and can walk on that side of the car where walking is most convenient and by suitably manipulating the adjacent hand wheel on which ever may be the forward side of the car, he can control the degree of opening of the forward closure starting with the closure barely opened and gradually increasing the extent of opening until the lading has been completely discharged. In this case, the lading when viewed in transverse section will pass out of its associated opening in a stream the outer edge of which is approximately along the line and the inner edge of which will be approximately along the line m, with the top approximately at the line n. The deflectors 16 will have the efiect of dividing the ribbon of ballast is over the rails and the inner edges of the discharge will be approximately along the lines 12, q. The Worm and gear segment control of the bottom doors permits of a regulated and gradual opening of the doors throughout their entire opening movements and insures an automatic locking of the doors both when in their fully closed position as well as when in the successive positions into which they are lowered in their opening movement.

By means of a device of the character described, it is possible to reduce the time which has been necessary heretofore to distribute ballast to tracks and other portions of the road bed, and to distribute the ballast at least approximately in that portion where it will eventually lie thus minimizing the necessity of any subsequent handling of ballast by manual operation. It is apparent that in addition to this function of laying ballast the car may be used as a con-. ventional bottom drop hopper car and as a side chute car for transporting and discharging other material.

I claim:

1. A railroad car for distributing ballast on the road bed selectively to the space on opposite sides of each rail, comprising a car body having a portion provided with inclined bottoms to form av hopper, and provided transversely of said hopper portion with a pair of outside discharge openings, one on each side of the car body and positioned to the outside of the plane of the adjacent car wheels, closures for regulating the rate of dischargeof ballast through said outside openings, said hopper portion also provided with four inside openings, two on each side of the longitudinal medial plane, and the two on each side of said plane being disposed in tandem, one opening into the other, closures for each of said inside openings disposed to turn about transverse axes, and the closures on each side of said medial plane opening downwardly and away from each other, and means for regulating the degree of opening of said closures thereby to control and proportion the discharge to different parts of the road bed, each of the closures for the inside opening provided with a deflector positioned in the plane of the adjacent car wheel and disposed to distribute the lading discharge from its associated inside opening to the spaces on opposite sides of the adjacent rail.

2. A railroad car for distributing ballast on the road bed selectively to the spaces on opposite sides of each rail, comprising a car body having a portion provided with inclined bottoms converging towards each other to form a pair of hoppers, one on each side of the longitudinal medial plane and each hopper provided at its lowermost part, transversely of said portion and laterally offset to the outer sides thereof with a pair of outside discharge openings, one on each side of the car body and positioned to the outside of the plane of the adjacent car wheels, closures for regulating the discharge of ballast from said outside openings, said portion also provided with four inside openings, two on each side of the longitudinal medial plane and being disposed in tandem, one opening into the other longitudinally of the car and vertically spaced beneath their associated outside discharge opening on the adjacent side of the car, closures for each of said inside openings disposed to turn about transverse axes, and the closures on each side of the medial plane opening downwardly and away from each other, and means for regulating the degree of opening of said closures thereby to control and proportion the discharge to difierent parts of the road bed.

3. A railroad car for distributing ballast and other lading on the road bed selectively to the spaces on opposite sides of each rail, comprising a car body extending in each direction laterally to the outside of the planes of'its wheels and provided at each lateral side with an outside discharge opening, a fixed chute forming pressing outlining the opening for conveying the car lading received therefrom to the road bed space outside of the adjacent rail, a pair of inside discharge openings, each formed in part by the adjacent chute forming pressing, said openings positioned on opposite sides of the longitudinal medial plane of the car body, each disposed for discharging car lading to the space on opposite sides of the rail below the same, closures for said inside openings, and means associated with each of said closures for adjusting the associated openings whereby the discharged lading may be proportioned in its distribution to different parts of the road bed.

4. In a ballast car, the combination of a car body provided with a center sill construction and with a bottom opening, a closure for said opening, a casting fitted in said center sill construction, a shaft provided with a worm journalled in said casting, and a gear segment journalled in said casting and having its teeth in engagement with said worm, means securing the segment rigidly to the closure and manually actuated means for rotating said shaft.

5. In a railroad car, the combination of a car body having a pair of bottom discharge openings and a box center sill construction, a single closure construction for closing both of said openings, a gear segment secured rigidly at its lower portion to said closure construction and rockably mounted in the center sill construction, and a worm shaft operatively connected to the segment to control the opening and closing of the closure construction thereby to control simultaneously the discharge through the both openings.

'6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with a discharge.

opening, a combined pendulous chute and closure for the opening, means above the chute for rockably mounting the closure and the weight of said closure being substantially balanced about said mounting means when the doors are in closed position.

'7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with a discharge opening, a combined chute and the closure for the opening including a bottom and sides, and pivotal mounting means engaging the sides in spaced relation to both ends and extending horizontally, said closure being substantially balanced about its mounting means when in closed position.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with a discharge opening, a combined chute and closure for the opening including a bottom and sides, and pivotal mounting means engaging the sides in spaced relation to both ends and extending horizontally thereby substantially; to balance the closure about its mounting means and said bottom provided on its upper side and in spaced relation to the sides with a deflector for dividing the car lading as it is discharged along said combined chute and closure.

9. Ina device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with a discharge opening, a closure for the opening, means offset to the side of the opening for pivotally mounting the closure with the discharge end of the closure movable downwardly from its closed to its open position and a deflector centered on the upper side of the closure and spaced inwardly from the edges which extend longitudinally of the car body and overlapping the opening when the closure is moved down from its closing position thereby to divide the stream of lading as it is discharged through the opening.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with an opening, a closure for the opening, means ofiset to the side of the opening for pivotally mounting the closure with the discharge end of the closure movable downwardly from its closed to its open position and a deflector secured to the upper side of the closure, said deflector being of maximum width at its top and having downing the closure with the discharge end of the closure movable downwardly from its closed to its open position and a deflector secured to the upper side of the closure, said deflector being of maximum width at its top and having downwardly and inwardly converging sides and having maximum width at the discharge end of the closure and gradually decreasing in width away from said end.

12. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body having a discharge opening, a drop door for controlling said opening, movable about an axis of turn extending transversely of the car, a deflector carried by the upper face of the door exposed to the lading in the car when the door is closed and when the door is open extending from its discharge edge longitudinally of the car and said door including flat portions on opposite sides of the deflector toform a pair of edge discharging portions.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body having a discharge opening, a drop door for controlling said opening, movable about an axis of turn extending transversely of the car, a deflector carried by the upper face of the door and extending from its discharge edge longitudinally of the car, said deflector being substantially triangular shape in plan and in transverse cross section with its larger end disposed adjacent the discharge edge of the door.

14. In a car of the type described, the combination of a car body including a center sill construction, a pair of bottom openings, one on each' side of said construction and centered about its associated car rail therebelow, closures for said openings, each of said closures provided on its upper side with a deflector fixedly secured thereto and positioned above its adjacent rail and said deflectors adapted when the doors are opened to distribute the car lading to opposite sides of the rails.

15. In a hopper bottom car, the combination of a side inclined downwardly and inwardly to form one side of the hopper of the car, and said hopper provided with a discharge opening at its bottom, said side provided with an outside lading discharge opening positioned above the hopper bottom opening, a closure for said outside opening comprising an arcuate plate having its convex side facing inwardly and thus exposed to the lading in the hopper when the door is in position closing the opening and means for controlling the degree of opening of said closure thereby to regulate the rate of discharge through said outside discharge opening.

16. In a hopper bottom car, the combination of a pair of sides inclined downwardly and inwardly towards each other, and a pair of longitudinally extending bottoms inclined downwardly towards each other and coacting with the sides to form a hopper, said hopper provided at its bottom with a closure controlled opening, said sides each provided with a side opening adjacent the top of the hopper and each of said side openings provided with a closure for regulating the extent of lading discharge from opposite sides of the upper portion of the hopper said closure comprising an arcuate plate having its convex side facing inwardly and thus exposed to the lading in the hopper when the door is in position closing the opening.

17. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pivotally mounted drop door, a gear segment secured to the door for moving the same to and from its closed position, said door and segment being substantially balanced about the pivotal mounting of the door, a worm engaging said gear segment for positively controlling the door throughout its entire opening movement and coacting with the segment for locking the door in its various open and in its closed positions.

18. A car body provided with an opening, a closure for the opening, a deflector carried by and movable with the closure for dividing the material discharged through said opening, said deflector being substantially triangular in one dimension with its base facing upwardly and its apex facing downwardly and having its apex end secured rigidly to the facing side of the closure lading.

19. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with a pair of discharge openings, each opening positioned above one of the associated car rails therebelow, closures for each of said openings, and each opening provided with a deflector rigidly and immovably secured to its associated door and positioned to extend partially across and below its associated opening, when the door controlling said opening is in open position.

20. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with a discharge opening, a pivotally mounted closure for the opening and a deflector secured to the inner face of the closure and having a material directing end moved by the closure to extend into said opening when the closure is moved into its open position and said deflector in all positions between its closed and fully opened positions being beneath its axis of swing with the closure.

21. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car body provided with a discharge opening, a pair of drop doors for closing the opening, said doors movable downwardly in opposing clockwise directions into open position, each door provided with a deflector and said deflectors being in alignment and coacting when both doors are open substantially to extend across the opening.

22. In a ballast car, the combination of a car body outlined on one side by a car side, means for reinforcing the lower edge of said car side, a bottom provided with a discharge opening, a 010- sure for controlling the flow of material through said bottom discharge opening and mounted for swinging movement about an axis located in the discharge opening and extending transversely of the car, said car body provided with an outside discharge opening inset from the car side and from its reinforcing means and outset from the bottom discharge opening and a closure for said outside discharge opening contained mainly within the outlines of the car body and mounted for rocking movement about a longitudinally extending axis inset inwardly beyond the adjacent car side and positioned at a level above the bottom opening.

23. In a ballast car, a car body including two bottoms inclined towards each other and with their adjacent bottom edges spaced apart to form a bottom discharge opening extending in a horizontal plane for discharging material on to the portion of the roadbed between the rails, drop door closures for said opening, said car body provided with an outside discharge opening positioned above the plane of the bottom discharge opening and between the bottom discharge opening and the adjacent outer side of the car body for discharging material outwardly of the adjacent rail and means for controlling the fiow of material through said outside discharge open- 24. In a ballast car, the combination on one side of the longitudinal medial plane of the car of a supporting wheel defining a vertical, longitudinal extending plane laterally spaced from the medial plane of the car and containing the rail on which the Wheel is positioned, a car body including an upstanding side ofiset outwardly from said lateral plane, a chute for discharging material from the interior of the car body and means for discharging the material from the chute on to the roadbed on opposite sides of said lateral plane and thus on opposite sides of the rail, said chute including a vertical, longitudinally extending outer side positioned between the car side and said lateral plane, and said car body provided with an outside discharge opening and a second chute lead ing therefrom and disposed to discharge material to the space outwardly of the car side, said outside dischargesecond chute being inset from the car side and'positioned between the same and the said outer side of the first named chute.

25. In a ballast car, the combination on one side of the longitudinal medial plane of the car of a supporting wheel defining a vertical, longitudinal extending plane laterally spaced from the medial plane of the car and containing the rail on which the wheel is positioned, a car body including an upstanding side offset outwardly from said lateral plane, a chute for discharging material from the interior of the car body and means for discharging the material from the chute on to the roadbed on opposite sides of said lateral plane and thus on opposite sides of the rail, said chute including a vertical, longitudinally extending outer side positioned between the car side and said lateral plane, and said car body provided with an outside discharge opening disposed to discharge material to the space outwardly of the car side, said outside discharge opening being inset from the car side and positioned between the same and the said outer side ofthe chute, and manually actuated control means for regulating the fiow of material through said outside discharge opening and for intercepting the flow at will.

26. In a car for carrying and distributing material capable of flowing therefrom, the combination of a material carrying car body provided with an upstanding car side, a hopper provided with a sloping side positioned below and inset from the adjacent car side, said hopper provided with a bottom discharge opening, a closure for controlling said opening, said sloping side provided with a side discharging opening, means forming a chute leading outwardly from said side discharge opening, a closure including an arcuate plate at the inner end of the chute forming means for controlling said side opening, said closure provided with end walls pivotally mounted to said chute forming means and said closure disposed to rest on said means when the closure is in position closing the opening.

2'7. In a car of the character described, the combination of a body for holding fiowable material, said body including upstanding sides, longitudinally extending bottoms inclined downwardly towards each other and towards the center of the car, transversely inclined lateral sides each extending inwardly from the lower portion of tis adjacent side wall, a central structure including on opposite sides thereof plates, extending downwards and towards their adjacent lateral sides, said bottoms, lateral sides and inclined plates coacting to form a pair of inclined bottom hoppers on opposite sides of the center structure and each having a discharge opening at its lower end, closures for said openings, manually actuated means for simultaneously controlling the openmeans for simultaneously controllying the opening and closing of the closures on opposite sides of the center structure, the lateral sides being each provided with an outside discharge opening and a pivotally mounted closure for the same, said closure provided with a socket facing outwardly for accommodating a lever to swing the closure, to and from open and closed positions, said socket being positioned beneath the part of the body defined by the upstanding sides.

28. In a car provided with an opening over which the lading may arch, a load lifting means pivotally mounted for movement about an axis beneath the opening and having a part thereof oiTset horizontally from said axis, said means including a chute with its length from the axis to its discharge end greater than from the axis to its rear end, said rear .end in its lifting effect on the material above the same and in the opening adapted to disturb the foot of the arch, break the arch and thus permit the load to flow through the opening.

29. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car body, of duplicate means on each side of the longitudinal medial plane of the car for discharging material at two vertically spaced points from each adjacent side of the car body, each of said means providing a vertically extending bottom discharge chute, means for controlling the passage of material therethrough, a second chute at the side of the car body for discharging material from the upper portion of the car body downwardly and outwardly at an angle to the vertical and thus permit it to fall gravitationally along said second chute and to be discharged outwardly beyond the car side, said chute provided with a closure pivotally mounted at its lower outer edge and in cluding an arched plate with its convexed side facing inwardly and upwardly when in closed position and with its lower edge defining a flow cutting edge movable in an arc having the pivotal mounting as a center and movable substan-. tially at right angles to said line of fall of the material whereby to cut off the flow along a line inclined to the vertical and to intercept the flow stream without necessity of materially resisting the full pressure acting on the flow, or of causing the closure to scrape against the falling flow of material during the moving of the closure into closed position.

30. In a car of the type described, the combination of a car body, a hopper supplied therefrom and provided at its lower end with a discharge opening, a closure for said opening, said hopper provided on the side thereof with an outside discharge opening, a closure for said opening, and a chute leading outwardly and downwardly from said opening, said chute being spaced above the first named discharge opening and contained within the vertically projected outlines of the car body.

31. A hopper car of the character described, comprising in combination a hopper having converging sloping bottoms, means at the lower portion of the hopper providing a discharge opening for depositing lading longitudinally of the car adjacent one of the track rails and said hopper provided with upper discharge means spaced vertically above the discharge means at the lower portion of the hopper and located adjacent the upper portion of said hopper for depositing lading entirely independent of said bottom discharge opening and said discharge means including defleeting means for guiding and depositing the lading by flow in the lateral direction to the outside of the discharge from the opening at the lower portion of the hopper.

32. A ballast car including a car body having a center sill construction, sloping bottoms on each side of said construction forming hoppers on opposite sides of the center, each of said hoppers provided with two transversely spaced discharge openings, the inner of the openings on each side of the center sill provided with means for directing the discharge therefrom on opposite sides of the adjacent track rail, and each outer opening provided with means forming a chute secured in place for directing the discharge from the opening to the outside of the adjacent rail, closures for said openings adapted to cooperate for selectively depositing lading to either or both sides of said track rails or any combination thereof.

33. A car of the type described comprising a car body provided with sloping bottoms forming a pair of transversely disposed hoppers, each hopper provided transversely of the car with an inside discharge opening and with an outside discharge opening, means beneath the inside opening for directing ballast therefrom on opposite sides of the adjacent track rail, means at the outside openings forming fixed chutes below their associated openings for directing ballast therefrom outside of the track rails, closures for controlling the discharge through the openings and control means comprising a single device for operating the inside closures and separate devices for operating the outside closures.

34. In a device of the class described, the combination of a center sill construction including a pair of side plates, an integral casting fitted between and forminga spacingmemberbetween the side! plates, said casting including a pair of aligned bearings spaced apart axially and longitudinally of the center sill, said casting also provided with a pair of aligned pin supporting apertures, with said apertures spaced apart axially and transversely of the center sill, the axes of the bearings and apertures being relatively fixed by the casting, a pin supported in the apertures, a closure mounted to turn about the axis of the pin and closure controlling mechanism including a shaft journalled in the bearings, a closure actuating element carried by the pin and a driving connection between the shaft and element.

35. In a device of the class described, a center sill construction including a pair of side plates, an integral casting fitted between and forming a rugged spacing member between the side plates, said casting including bearings for a closure controlling shaft extending lengthwise of the center sill and said casting also provided with apertures for supporting a pin extending at right angles to and vertically spaced from the axis defined by the bearings, a closure having one end pivoted on said pin and closure control means carried by the portion of the pin between the side plates.

36. In a car of the class described, the combination of means forming a door opening, a drop door therefor mounted to swing about an axis extending transversely of the length of the car and located above the midlength of the door, said door when depressed into its open position forming a chute with its discharge edge lower at its opposite ends than at its midportion whereby the door acts to form a deflector at the midportion for separating the lading as it is discharged from the car through the door opening.

37. In a railroad car, the combination of structural parts forming a door opening, a balanced door for closing the same mounted for movement about an axis extending transversely of the length of the car and spaced from opposite edges, said door provided with means confined to the discharge edge and forming a deflector at all times extending in a plane lengthwise of the car and transversely of said axis, and said deflector disposed in all positions of the door above the lowest point of its discharge edge on opposite sides of said deflector.

38. In a railroad car, the combination of structural parts forming a door opening, a drop door for controlling said opening, said door mounted for movement about a horizontal axis contained within its vertically projected outlines and when depressed into open position forming a discharging chute, the lower load discharge portion of said chute having its upper surface elevated adjacent the center of the discharge edge and spaced from its lateral edges to form two discharge channels for the lading passing along said upper surface as it is discharged through the opening.

39. In a railroad car, the combination of structural parts forming a door opening, a drop door for controlling said opening and mounted for movement about an axis extending transversely of the length of the car and contained within the vertically projected outlines of the door in all positions thereof, said door when in open position forming a chute for discharging the lading from the car, the upper surface of said chute at its discharge edge forming an elevation extending lengthwise of the car and forming a depression on opposite sides of the elevation and acting to divide the lading into two streams as it is discharged through the opening.

40. A railway car including a center sill and an upstanding side, an inclined outer lateral side sloping inwardly from the upstanding side and an inclined inner lateral side sloping outwardly from the center sill and coacting to form inner and outer sides of a hopper, means providing a discharge chute depending from said hopper forming a downwardly projecting extension thereof and provided with a lading discharge opening, a door for closing the opening mounted for rotary movement about an axis extending transversely of the length of the car and positioned below said inclined sides, said door provided With a pivotal mounting supported from said chute forming means and provided with end walls being respectively disposed adjacent the sides of said chute forming means, said door provided adjacent one of its end Walls with an arcuateshaped portion having a plurality of teeth, and.

a'manually actuated control including a worm for selectively cooperating with said teeth to maintain the door in difierent positions.

41. A railway car including an upstanding side, a lateral side extending inwardly and downwardly from the upstanding side and forming the outer side of a hopper, a chute forming member depending from said lateral side forming a continuation of the hopper and providing an inclined lading discharge opening inclined to both the vertical and horizontal, said opening outlined by a reinforced flanged lower edge, said'chute forming member provided with spaced apart upstanding sides, an arcuate door for closing the opening, said door being adapted to remain in closed position under the influence of gravity and adapted to be freely rotated upwardly from its closed to its open position and having its end walls disposed in juxtaposition to the opposing walls of the chute forming member when the door is in closed position and said door provided with a socket for receiving an actuating lever for rotating the door to and from its open 10 and closed positions.

JOHN W. KING, II. 

